Discrimination lawsuit filed against Bishop State Community College

Bishop State Community College commencement ceremony Wednesday May 11, 2011 in the Mobile Civic Center. Graduates listen as Dr. Mark Foley, president of University of Mobile delivers commencement address. (Press-Register/Victor Calhoun)

MOBILE, Alabama -- The director of financial aid at Bishop State Community College has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the 2-year school and the state Department of Postsecondary Education.

Audry King, who is black, claims that in the fall of 2009, college President James Lowe offered to promote her to a counselor position, which would have entailed a raise.

King “expressed her desire to take the position,” but was not given the job, according to the lawsuit.

At about the same time, a “substantially similar counseling position” was given to a “less qualified” white woman, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Mobile.

Lowe said Tuesday that he could not comment on the lawsuit.

Neither King nor her attorney returned phone calls asking for more information.

In the lawsuit, King said she holds a master’s degree in counseling, while the woman who got the job has a master’s degree in education.

King alleges she lost about $400 per month in salary “plus other retirement-related benefits.”

In the lawsuit, King says her failure to get the job was based on her race, and that she suffered “humiliation and embarrassment, and stress and anxiety” in the wake of the decision.

King seeks compensatory damages to cover financial losses both direct and consequential. She also seeks punitive damages and a “finding that Bishop State has engaged in individual and system-wide race discrimination.”